


I Am But A Stranger

by Random_Dark_Rainbow



Series: Divercity [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: 1980s, 1984, Blind Date, Boys Kissing, Drunken Kissing, M/M, Seattle Washington
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28644444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Dark_Rainbow/pseuds/Random_Dark_Rainbow
Summary: After two weeks of of moping around about his previous break up, Casey decides to agree to his roommate, Heather’s, idea of a blind date. However, after being stood up and having too many drinks, he’s tempted to just go home with the very attractive waiter at the restaurant.
Series: Divercity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2196987
Kudos: 2





	1. Heartbreak Hotel

**Author's Note:**

> If this feels like you need to read some other thing to get this story, you don’t. This is just chapter 8 of a “book” I’m writing, so the characters are already developed and shit. But either way I hope you give it a chance, and I hope you enjoy it!

Casey was checking himself in the mirror, making sure everything was perfect. He wore a black blazer over a white knitted sweater completed with dark slacks and black oxfords. He tried to tame his curls as best as he could. Though, it didn’t seem to be working. 

“So, why is the restaurant so far away again? I know the places we live aren’t very romantic, but just south of Seattle has some nice places.” He asked from the bathroom. He combed back a piece of hair, but it just bounced right back to where it was. He groaned and put down the comb, accepting defeat. Nothing could tame his Irish curls.

“Because...” Heather came out of her room and approached Casey. She straightened his jacket and tried to push back his hair. It was something a married couple might do, but Casey didn’t mind. That’s just the kind of friends they were, “The guy lives a little more uptown and I didn’t want him to make the trip down here. And plus, you have plenty of money to spare.” She smiled while he rolled his eyes. Just because he was a nurse doesn’t mean he was rich, but she was right, he didn’t have to worry about gas money.

She was still trying to fix his hair, but it was to no avail.

“I already tried to fix them,” Casey began, “Nothing can tame these curls.” He said proudly.

Heather smirked then went back to pulling at his hair, “Have you tried slicking it back? I bet Lawrence has some pomade that you can use.” 

“Heather it’s fine. I mean, how fancy is this restaurant?”

“Pretty fancy, in fact,” She stepped back to take in his outfit, “You might want to wear an actual suit.”

Casey scoffed and looked down at his formal attire, would they really not let him in because he was wearing a sweater instead of a tie?

“You know what,” Heather began, waving her hands around, “Forget it, you look great. I think you’re ready. Now, don’t be nervous because this guy is really nice and I know you’ll have great time with him. If he does anything that makes you uncomfortable then just leave straight away. Actually no—call me first. Or, you know what? If it’s really an emergency then call 911 and then call me. You can call me anytime, in fact, maybe I should give you some change just in case something happens—“ 

She grabbed her purse from the living room table and began scrambling for loose change. However, Casey zones out as she does this. Heather was kind of overprotective of him, but he liked that about her. He knew that she always wanted to be a mother, and he guesses that’s why she gets like this. Hopefully one day she’ll find someone to adopt a child with, or who knows? Maybe she’ll become a single mom. It’s not like she won’t have enough money, she’s the only one who’s currently going to college in their friend group. Especially when she’s going to be some computer programmer, people will definitely need people like her in the future.

By the time he zoned back in, Heather was shoving things into his hands and was talking about getting him a bag. He looked down and saw quarters, mints, chapstick, and—“Condoms?” He laughed.

Heather’s face turned a bright red, “Better safe than sorry!” She said trying to mask her embarrassment with a smile, “Oh my god I’ve been talking for too long. You get going! You don’t want to keep him waiting.”

She basically shoved him out the door and threw his keys at him before she shut it. He smiled and walked down the hall. He hasn’t seen her this happy in a while. Ever since the whole Nathan thing, his glumness has spread to Heather. He knew that this blind date thing wouldn’t go anywhere, but he wanted Heather to feel better. And also for her to stop nagging about how him and Nathan only knew each other for a few days, but mostly for the feeling better thing.

He made his way down the stairs and into his old Toyota. He may have a good paying job, but he’s not going to waste it on some car. He’d rather waste it on cassettes. Speaking of, he popped in one of his many cassette into his stereo and relaxed as the sound of electric guitars filled his car. Asia. One of his favorite bands, besides Elton John. Thought Elton John is only one guy, not a whole band. Plus, can something really be your favorite if you’re the only one who knows that you like it?

———————————————————–

Redmond was about a half an hour away if you didn’t count the ferry ride. So about 40 minutes, but then he was also driving during rush hour, so in reality it took him an hour to get there. However, it didn’t matter since his date wasn’t even there yet. He was seated by an usher to one of the tablesHeather was right, the place was very fancy. He could barely read the name as he caught a glimpse of the sign before he walked in. Something...chez? Some weird French name that was accompanied by the owner’s name which also happened to be French.

He thanked the usher and sat down at the table. There were other tables around him, but no booths. They were filled with couples and friends, thought he hoped the same-sex “friends” who sat with each other were actually couples. He didn’t want to be the only gay guy here.

As he waited for his waiter (why do they even call it a ‘waiter’ when the customer is the one who’s always waiting?) he took in more of his surroundings. The room was dimly lit with sconces mounted to the walls and candles on each of the tables. Right in front of him was an archway that led to the entrance of the restaurant. He remembered that just in case he had to make a quick getaway, but before he could locate his other exits his waiter finally arrived.

“Good evening sir. Will your date be arriving shortly?” The woman who approached was rather short. She had light brown skin and dark curly hair that contrasted with her dark blue eyes. She wore a black vest over a white collared shirt that complemented her long black skirt. A name tag was displayed across the vest, ‘Nina’ it read. He thought it fit her.

Quickly he gathered himself and formed a response, “Um yes! Hopefully they’ll be here shortly, but is it okay if I order now?”

Nina, apparently, shook her head, “I’m sorry, you can’t order until all the people in your party are here,” she told him as if it came directly from the manual she had to memorize the rules from, “But you can order a drink. Can I get you anything from the bar?” She asked as she handed him a menu.

He looked down at it, but he already knew what he wanted, “Just a bottle of red to start and your—“ he caught a glimpse of a drink on the menu yet couldn’t figure out how to pronounce it, “Chee-anti?”

She grimaced, “Our Chianti?” She said pronouncing the ‘Chi’ part as if it was the word ‘key’.

“Yes!” He proclaimed, “We’ll take two glasses of that as well.” He didn’t actually know what the drink was, but hey, it sounded fancy so it must be good.

She smiled politely and took back the menu. Then she quickly headed out of the room. He wasn’t that embarrassed that he pronounced the word wrong, but after she left so quickly he suddenly felt self conscious.

No matter, he quickly brushed the thought aside and waited for his date to arrive.

——————————————————————

His date never arrived. In fact, it’s been so long that Casey decided to keep track of time by how many glasses of wine he has drunk. So far, it’s been the entire bottle of red wine and he has moved on to the Chianti not Chee-anti, and he’s halfway through it. Most of the couples have left and the ones that have stayed are eying him weirdly as he lays back in his chair, obviously wasted, as he sips from his glass. 

Gina (or was it Nina? He didn’t bother to remember) has been asking him many times if he just wanted to order, but he refused every time. He didn’t know why he was being so stubborn, probably all the wine. Either way, after her third attempt she walked off again, but this time she didn’t come back.

Instead, a different waiter walked into the room. The man was very attractive, he was around his height, 5’6 or 5’7, and wore the same outfit as his previous waitress, just minus the skirt. He had dirty blonde hair that was swooped to the side, it was much more tamed than his own hair. When he approached his table he noticed his green eyes, or were they hazel? He couldn’t tell especially since the room was swaying behind the man.

“Sir you need to leave, I’m afraid that you’re date isn’t coming and that you’re intoxication is bothering the other guests.” He said it very formally while trying to hide his irritation. Maybe this has happened before?

Honestly, Casey was deciding that maybe he should just head back home, but now that this man is here he felt the urge to stay. Just like Nina (Gina? Tina?) he had a name tag on his vest that read—“Jackson...” he mumbled unknowingly.

The waiter—no—Jackson, looked down at his name tag at the response. He shook his head as if to dismiss the comment, “Sir please. I can offer you some spare change if you need to call someone?” He started to look nervous, his formal facade cracking as the other patrons looked over at their discussion.

“Yeah...” Casey slurred, “Actually that would be good.” He said as he struggled to stand. Jackson led him out of the room and pointed him towards the pay phone. He dialed Heather’s number as he watched from the corner of his eye as Jackson talked to his previous waitress.  
At first he tried to listen to their conversation, but he ended up just staring at Jackson. At first he was very formal, but now he seems more awkward and nervous as he talked to the girl. Was he blushing? He couldn’t tell, but either way it was cute. However, at the same time he felt a pang of jealousy knowing the man probably had some type of crush on the waitress.

“Hey, if you’re not going to answer I’m just gonna hang up.”

Suddenly he returned to earth and to the familiar, and somewhat tired, voice of his best friend, “Hey Heather!” He said—err yelled more likely.

“Casey? Is everything okay? When you didn’t come home I assumed you went to his place and...well you know.” He could practically see her grimace, Heather hated the discussion of sex. It’s not that it made her uncomfortable, she just thinks that there are better ways to connect with someone.

“Yeah—no. Change of plans, I kind of need a ride home...” He decided not to grill her on his date not arriving. Honestly he was more upset than angry.

“Right now? Casey it’s almost 1 in the morning! I can’t drive all the up to Redmond, I need to study for this exam tomorrow. Can’t you drive yourself home?”

“No way, like you said, safety comes first, and I’m very positive that one should not drink and drive.” He could hear her muffled frustrated groan.

“God you’re drunk? Casey how can you be so immature! Honestly you always do this when you get upset, it’s very unhealthy and if you keep doing this you could potentially—“

“Hey, hey, hey!” He interrupted, “I didn’t call for a lecture okay? You can do that when I’m sober. Just please come get me.” He was almost begging now as fatigue washed over him. Honestly, if Jackson wasn’t right there he wouldn’t hesitate regurgitating all the alcohol in his system and collapsing to the floor.

“Sorry. Can you call a cab or something? Or can someone drive you home? I’m guessing the date didn’t go well so he obviously can’t get you back home.”

Redmond was a little less urban than Belltown so he knew there weren’t as many cabs out, especially at this hour. He looked over and Jackson who was staring right at him with a confused look, wondering why he was taking so long.

Worth a shot, he thought, “Yeah. I got a ride...” He mumbled and hung up. He knew he would definitely get hell for that, but he didn’t care. He had an idea, a drunken and very stupid idea.


	2. Take Me To The Pilot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunken Casey decides to ask Jackson to take him home...or at least tries to.

Casey had decided on asking Jackson to give him a ride back to his house. Obviously that was selfish and they barely knew each other, but for some reason he didn’t want to leave this place unless it was with Jackson. He had this aura around him, and even though he didn’t believe in all that soulmate mumbo jumbo, he just felt this connection with him.

Casey stumbled over to him and Dina (He’s pretty sure it’s Dina…), “So I called my friend and she uh… can’t come get me.” He didn’t know how he was going to ask him, but it was coming to him...slowly.

Jackson and Dina stared at him as if he was going to continue, but it ended up just becoming a very awkward minute of silence until Jackson finally blurted out, “Do you need a ride?” Was he offering or just asking? Honestly Casey couldn’t tell, “‘Cause maybe I could--”

“Jackson.” Dina interrupted sharply. Jackson looked over at her as she shook his head at him, a subtle, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Casey tried to focus on the two’s nonverbal conversation, but all he could focus on was the sudden urge to vomit up his guts and the fact that the ceiling was getting farther away. 

Wait what?

Suddenly, his wrist was quickly snatched by Jackson as he helped him realign himself. 

Oh. 

He was falling.

“Nina, he’s obviously not in any condition to drive, and I don’t mind giving him a lift.” 

Nina? Who the fuck was Nina?

“Well then maybe I should take him home. I mean, my shift is almost over while you still have an hour left.” Oh, that’s Nina. 

Wait.

Did she just say she wanted to take him home? Gross.

“Nina…” Jackson begged.

Jackson and Nina had another type of nonverbal conversation, except this time it was some sort of staring test. It was as if they were having a very heated argument with just their eyes, though Casey could care less. All he could focus on at the moment was the fact that Jackson was still holding his wrist.

It’s like they were holding hands! Well, almost.

“Fine!” Nina groaned and finally broke the stare, “Just please don’t be late tomorrow okay?”

Jackson smiled wide, damn, he has a nice smile, “Thank you!” He went to grab Casey’s hand, but realized he already had a tight grip on his wrist. Eitherway, he began dragging him out of the restaurant.

“Hey, I’m serious!” Nina yelled, “If you’re late again Jackson, I swear to god, you…” But her high pitched voice started to fade away as Jackson basically lugged Casey out of there.

“Sorry about Nina,” Jackson said as he guided Casey to his car, a white BMW, “She’s kind of uh…overprotective, you could say.” He helped him into his car. Honestly, it wasn’t the nicest car, but hey, he didn’t mind.

After Jackson helped him in, he rounded to the drivers side and got into the driver's seat, but before he started the car, he suddenly looked panicked, “Um..” he awkwardly turned to Casey, “I just realized that you didn’t really have a whole say in this. Did you want Nina to take you home? ‘Cause I could--”

“No.” He blurted out, “God, no. I could barely stand just sitting by her, her voice is so shrill.” Casey grimaced just thinking about it. Usually he’s not this blunt and rude, but that’s what alcohol does to him. It makes him say what’s on his mind, no matter how rude or inappropriate it was.

However, instead of kicking Casey out of his car like one should after someone insults their friend, he started...laughing? 

“Yeah…” he managed to say in between breaths, “She’s um,” he cleared his throat and regained his composure, “She’s a little high strung, but yeah, I guess she does have a pretty high voice.” Now he was just smiling off into the distance as if remembering her.

Casey worried that maybe Jackson liked Nina, but he put that aside because he couldn’t stop staring at him. He didn’t think he could like a smile so much, but Jackson’s was the best. It was like everything stopped and suddenly Casey couldn’t think straight. Was it weird that he had the sudden urge to kiss him? God, he couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or if it was just Jackson making him feel this way.

“Casey?” 

Casey? Who’s Casey? All he knows is Jackson and his perfect smile. The way his teeth are a bit crooked, yet still perfect. The way it was like he was embarrassed to show it, and that smile was meant just for him. Just for Casey. 

However suddenly he wasn’t smiling anymore, instead, he was snapping his fingers as if trying to wake him out of a trance.

“You okay? You were just staring at me for a solid minute. Are you going to throw up?” Technically he’s felt like throwing up for the past half hour, but he didn’t want to worry Jackson.

So, he reassured Jackson that he was absolutely fine. Which, didn’t seem to calm his nervousness a whole lot since the anxious expression on his face didn’t go away, but he seemed okay enough to start driving away from the restaurant.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Shit!” Jackson exclaimed, “I need your address. Goddamnit, I’ve just driving towards my house for the past 30 minutes.”

Casey, continuing to resist the urge to vomit (because the moving car was not helping him keep it down), replied, “Yeah, it’s the uh, 2312 3rd Ave. Down in Belltown.” Damn, he was surprised he remembered that.

“Belltown? Never heard of it.”

“Oh, it’s right by Seattle.”

“Seattle?!” He exclaimed as he suddenly stopped the car. Thank god, the person behind them wasn’t close enough to crash into them, but there was a series of honking from behind him that wasn’t helping Casey’s headache, “Shit…” he mumbled.

Jackson pulled to the side of the road, then turned towards Casey, “You live in Seattle? Why the hell are you all the way up here without a closer place to stay at?” He was about to respond with a simple ‘I don’t know,’ but then that urge to vomit suddenly became too strong. 

He quickly unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door. Collapsing to his knees he retched up all the red wine, chianti, and most likely his lunch from earlier.

After heaving for several minutes to make sure he got it all up, he turned to see Jackson watching him worryingly. He turned back to see the mess he made, it was sort of a dark brown with chunks in it, god why was he looking at it? He instead looked to the gravel beside him and laid his forehead down. The cool rocks hurt, but somehow relieved his headache slightly.

He felt himself start to drift off until a pair of arms started to wrap around his own, and Jackson was helping him stand, “Shit, alright, let’s just get you back to my place and I’ll take you back tomorrow morning.” He told him, though it seemed like he was mostly telling himself. But all Casey could focus on was how close he was to Jackson and how sleep sounded so nice until he was abruptly overcome by it.

——————————————————————

It had felt like hours later, but it was probably only ten minutes, but they were finally at Jackson’s place. Jackson woke him up and guided him out of his car and up the millions of stairs and to his apartment. Again, it probably wasn’t a million, but Casey was so tired that every step somehow exhausted him more.

Jackson’s place could be described the same as his car, decent. It was pretty small, and it reminded him of Jesse and Lawrence’s place with the kitchen to the right as you walk in and a closed off room to the left. Most likely a closet of some sorts.

The living room could barely be called that, it was really just a couch and a small tv and closely by were two doors which Casey assumed lead to two bedrooms. Wait--two?

Jackson guided him to the couch, quickly rushed to the kitchen, and came back with a bowl, “That’s if you puke again, the bathroom is the room to your left. Also my roommates here, so I apologize because you’ll have to sleep on the couch.” he explained as he was grabbing a couple blankets and a pillow from a nearby closet.

No. This wasn’t how this night was supposed to end! God, why’d he have to throw up? Jackson’s probably disgusted with him now. No, this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.

Casey began to stand up, which was probably not a good idea since his nauseousness immediately came back to him. But he couldn’t think straight.

Literally.

“Jesus,” Jackson groaned and put the bedding on the couch before trying to sit Casey back down, “No way man, you need to get some sleep. You look exhausted.” He said with a kind smile, and recently, if you couldn’t tell, Casey has adored that smile, but it became sour when he realized he called him “man.”

That’s not what you call someone you want to hook up with. Does that mean he’s straight? But the signs Casey saw lead to him believing otherwise. Maybe it was just Casey that he didn’t find attractive. “Ugh,” he groaned out of frustration. He rested his head on Jackson’s shoulder and sunk back down onto the couch, dragging Jackson with him, “What’s wrong with me?” he mumbled.

“What?” Jackson asked quizzically.

“Why doesn’t anyone like me? Am I not good looking, or smart enough, or something?” Great, now he just sounds pathetic.

“What?,” Jackson began, “What are you talking about?” He asked, but not rudely, as if he was genuinely curious.

“I mean,” He lifted his head off of his shoulder, but didn’t dare look into Jackson’s eyes, “I was with this guy and I thought we really had something, but apparently it meant nothing because after a week of just hooking up, I find out he was hooking up with another guy. And I know it probably meant nothing from the beginning, but...”

Don’t tear up, don’t tear up, “I don’t know. And now, my friend set me up on this blind date and the guy doesn’t even show up. Maybe he came in, saw me, and left. God, am I really that unattractive?”

It was quiet for a minute, and Casey was slowly sobering up and becoming more and more nervous every second. “Well…” Jackson spoke up, and Casey’s eyes darted to his, surprised that he didn’t just up and leave him right then and there, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you, and you are a really attractive guy. I’m actually surprised that anyone would pass you up. But uh..” he cleared his throat, now becoming flustered.

“You seem like a great guy, for the short amount of time I’ve known you, and even though those guys didn’t care enough about getting to know you as a person, I would like too.” The sentence faded off as his face got even more red. Wow, when did they get so close?

And suddenly, there was his smile again, except this time it was a more awkward and nervous kind of smile. But Casey couldn’t care less, it was still perfect, maybe even more than his others because this one felt real. Then suddenly, he couldn’t hold in that urge to kiss him anymore. 

He slammed his lips against him and thankfully, Jackson didn’t seem to mind. Their lips fit perfectly together and it wasn’t like anything Casey had experienced before.

At first it was slow and sweet, barely taking any breaths, as if he couldn’t live unless his lips were connected to Jackson’s. Then it slowly got more heated. His hands went to cup Jackson’s face, but Jackson quickly pulled his arms down to his hips as he pulled at Casey’s hair. That’s when Casey groaned into his mouth, which sadly caused Jackson to pull away, “We gotta be quiet..” He mumbled, though it was obvious that he thought otherwise.

“Then why don’t we go somewhere more private?” Casey asked gruffly as he started kissing his neck softly.

“Um..right.” Jackson breathed out. He took Casey’s hand and quickly guided him to his bedroom, slamming the door shut on there way in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s it for these two for now, I have so many ideas for their relationship in the future. But alas, I’m too lazy and stressed out to write more. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Again, this is like chapter 8 of a “book” I’m writing, but I decided to post this chapter here because it was just sitting in notes on my phone collecting dust. I hope whoever is reading this liked it. :)


End file.
